Samuel C. Kone

Samuel C. Kone was born in Russia on October 18, 1880, to Rabbi Joseph and Leah Kaplan Kone. The family moved to New York City when Samuel was three years old, then to Hartford, presumably before the turn of the century. Samuel is said to have skipped high school and gone straight to Yale University. He graduated from Yale Law School in 1904. While there, he was voted "most energetic" and was also noted for his skills in oratory and debate. He worked "night and day" to earn the money for his education and also traveled to NYC to ask Jacob Schiff, a stranger to Kone but known for his philanthropy, for help with his tuition. (Schiff complied and Kone later paid him back.)

Kone began his career as an attorney, but eventually became a real estate broker. Aside from his real estate management, sales, and leasing, he also managed to find time to do a great deal of charitable work and to join many fraternal organizations, some of which are listed below. Much of his community work consisted of lectures and motivational talks for which he was sought from throughout New England. Indeed, he was called "the Stephen Wise of New England." His topics ranged from fundraising for the Z.O.A. to inaugural addresses for new organizations or buildings to explanations of the theories of Einstein. Published copies of several of his speeches appear in the scrapbooks. One article also cites him as a novelist, though we know no novel by Kone at this time.

Kone appears to have been a member of the Ados Israel and Agudas Achim congregations, perhaps following Rabbi Hurewitz. He first married Anna _____, then Jeanette Dorman Kennedy; Kone had two sons. He died February 2, 1951.

A partial list of organizations to which Kone belonged follows:

• Hebrew Ladies Old People's Home/Hebrew Home for the Aged; board, member • Jewish Orphan Asylum, NYC; national board member • Children's Home; board member • Mt. Sinai Hospital; board member • Jewish Consumptive' Relief Society; District 1 president • Hartford Jewish Kehilah, ca 1920; president • Young Men's/Young Women's Hebrew Associations; member, board of Advisers • Jewish War Sufferers Committee; member • Joint War Relief and Palestine Restoration Fund Drive, ca 1920; Hartford Committee member • Hartford Zionist District (ZOA); officer • Connecticut Zionist Region (ZOA); president • American Jewish Congress; delegate • Brith Sholom (IOBS); deputy grand master, president of Aaron Lodge • Brith Abraham (IOBA); president of Hartford City Lodge • Lincoln Republican Club; president • Odd Fellows (IOOF), Loyalty Lodge and Jonathan Lodge • Modern Woodmen of America; state lecturer, state consul of King Solomon Camp • Knights of Pythias, John Hay Lodge; grand chancellor of the state • The Order of Owls, Hartford Nest; vice president and supreme organizer for the national organization • Ancient Mystic Order of Samaritans, Korom Sanctorum #195; member

One final interesting note about Kone's activities comes from his work in Brith Shalom on their "Americanization Campaign." Kone and the IOBS supported open immigration (they were anti-restrictionists) but felt that all immigrants should speak English, become U.S. citizens, and study American history.